Pneumatic straw-stacker.



Patented Dec. 19, |899.

um l. ,F.v P on A. H S K. L

PNEUMATIC STBAW STACKEB.

(Application led Feb. 3, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 639,448. Patented Deu. I9, |899.

J. K. SHABPE, JR. PNEUMATIC STHAW STACKER.

(Application led FebLS, 1898.)

(No Modal.) 2 sheets-sheet z.

ru: Nonms PETERS co, lmwa/ww., WASHINGTON, n. c.

t iran Srarns Minna JOSEPH K. SIIARPE, JR., OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA,ASSIGNOR TO TIIE INDIANA MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

PN EU [VIATlC STRW-STACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,448, dated December19, 1899.

Applioatior filed February 3, 1898. Serial No. 669,010. (No model.)

of Indiana, have invented certain new and y useful Improvements inPneumatic Straw- Stackers, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to that class of machines known as fpneumatic strawstackers,7 of which that shown and described in LettersPatent of the United States No. 467,476 to James Buchanan, dated January19, 1892, is a leading example.

My present invention consists in certain improvements upon the machineor apparatus upon which the said Buchanan patent was granted wherebycertain advantages are attained, as will be hereinafter moreparticularly described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and011 which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the rear end of athreshingmachine and the fans, stump, and turn-table of a pneumaticstacker. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view as seen when lookingdownwardly from the dotted line 2 2 in Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 a similar Viewas seen from the dotted line 3 3.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the body, including theframework and casing,of an ordinary threshing-m achine; B, the notchedbars constituting the strawfloor thereof; C, the shaking-sieves therein,upon which the grain and chaff are precipitated from among the strawafter being threshed; D, the main blast-fan of my improved pneumaticstraw-stacker; E, an auX- iliary or supplemental fan; F, the stump, socalled, of the stacker proper; G, the trunk or chute thereto, and H thehood on the end of said trunk or chute.

The threshing-machine body A, its strawoor B, and the sieves O, as wellas many of the other parts thereof, are not peculiar to my presentinvention; but they have a bearing thereon, as the relation of the fansthereto is important to the perfect operation of the apparatus. I maysay here that my present invention is the result of extensive andprotracted experiments which I have made to determine the most desirablearrangement and relation of parts to secure the best results.

The blast-fan D is in itself of an ordinary form. It is of aconsiderably larger size than the fan shown in the Buchanan patent abovereferred to, and its shaft Dl is so arranged in relation to the sievesOand the adjacent parts of the structure that the lower side ofthefan-eye is considerably below said sieves, for a purpose which will bepresently described. Said fan is what is known as an undershot fanthatis, it revolves in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, andits egresstube D3 is tangential to the under side of the fan-housing.Said fan-housing D2 is of an ordinary construction, except that asection D4 is removable. As the fan-housing is positioned, it is, incomplete form, somewhat in the way of removing the sieves. By makingsaid section Dtremovable, as shown, this difficulty is obviated, as whensaid section is removed there is given plenty of room to handle thesieves, as will be readily understood. Said section is secured to themain structure by suitable bolts d2, carrying thumbnuts d4, or by othersuitable devices for the purpose.

4The auxiliary fan E is posi tioned above and behind the fan D, but nearthereto and tothe egress-tube D3 therefrom, as is best shown in Fig. 3.It is mounted on a shaft E in a halfhousing of the form shown, the upperpart of the fan being outside said housing. Said fan is below theextreme or delivery end of the straw-door B and is adapted to throw thestraw as it comes from said straw-floor into the blast coming throughthe tube D3 from the fan D. This fan is so arranged and speeded as, soto speak, to float the straw over from the point where it leaves thereciprocating straw-Hoor B, through the passage-way provided for thepurpose, into the space below the stump of thestacker, where it issubjected to the greatest force of the blast from the fan D. ltsoperation at this point is not only to propel the straw forward, andthus supplement the work of the fan D, butto prevent or counteract,anytendency on the part of the blast from said fan D to force back insteadof drive forward the straw as it comes from the straw-floor of themachine.

Machines of the type shown in the Buchanan patent above referred to havea superiority over those of the type where the straw passes through thefan, in that they supply a more equable air-blast and handle the strawmore perfectly; but it has also been recognized that they involved awaste of power because of the necessarily large opening above the fanthrough which the straw entered the stacker and which involved anexpansion of the air at this point, with its consequent loss of force.Machines which drive the straw through the fan have a tendency tobreakup the straw, which renders it less desirable for many purposes ofuse and less valuable and merchantable, besides also wasting some power.

By the peculiar arrangement and combination which I have devised I havebeen able to overcome these disadvantages, securing the direct blastpfthe Buchanan construction unhampered by a body of straw entering` thefan and also the continued pressure attained by the other constructionwherein the straw passes through the fan, as by means of mysupplementalfan, located and arranged as stated, I am enabled to.counteract the eXn pansion of air in the blast and consequent waste ofpower to which the Buchanan machine is subject.

As will be noticed, especially in Fig. l, the truck or chute of mymachine is rectangular in cross-section instead of round, as has beenextensively employed in the machines wherein the straw passes throughthe fan. In this particular my machine is like that shown in theBuchanan patent above referred to, and I have discovered in the courseof my experiment that this construction is much superior to the roundform, as it controls the direction of the air, causing it to iiow in astraight line and preventing vortical currents and back pressure, towhich the round form is subject.

The eyes in the fan-casing D2 being lower than the point where the chaffis delivered from the sieves enables said chaff to pass freely into saidfan-eyes and out with the blast of air. The chaff, being already of acomparatively fine character, passes freely through the fan, and ofcourse the objection of passing the straw through it is therefore notapplicable to the chaff.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a threshing-machine, of ablast-fan positionednear the ends of the sieves, a fan-housing therefor having itsdischarge-opening tangential with the under side thereof, a second fanmounted above and to the rear of said blast-fan behind the straw-Hoor ofthe threshing-machine, a fancasing which incases the lower half of saidfan but not the other half, and a chute or tube through which the strawis projected onto the straw-stacker.

2. The combination of a threshing-machine, a pneumatic straw-stackerconnected to said machine, and an intermediate fan positioned betweenthe fan of the straw-stacker and the lower end of the trunk or chutethereof and behind and below the straw-carrying ioor of saidthreshing-machine, whereby the straw is thrown or floated over from thestraw-carrier i'loor into the main blast of said straw-stacker,substantiall y as set forth.

3. The combination, with a threshing-machine and a pneumatic stacker, ofan auxiliary fan the shaft whereof is positioned below and to the rearof the straw-carrier floor of the threshing-machine.

4L. The combination of a threshing-machine, a pneumatic straw/stackerattached thereto, an auxiliary fan positioned alongside the passageewaythrough which the straw travels from the threshingmachine to thestrawstacker, and a half-housing for said fan the top whereof inclinesdownwardly from the straw-carrier Hoor to said passage-way, that side ofsaid fan which operates upon the straw being uncovered while theopposite side is contained within said half-housing.

5. The combination,in a combined threshing-machine and pneumaticstraw-stacker, with the framework, casing and passage-ways thereof, ofthe large blast-fan D positioned low down and close behind the sieves ofthe threshing-machine, a fan-casing therefor the eye whereof is belowthe delivery-point of the chaff, whereby said fan isadapted to receivethe chaff as it is delivered from the sieves,an independent passage-waybeing provided from the upper portion of the threshing-machine to thestu mp of the straw-stacker, and an auxiliary fan positioned alongsidethe said straw passage-way, all substantially as shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, atIndianapolis, Indiana, this 31st day of January, A. D. 1898.

JOSEPH K. SHARPE, JR. [L. s]

Vitnesses:

OHEsTER BRADFORD, JAMES A. WALSH.

IOC

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